The Potential Client
by Wink987
Summary: When Naru takes the case, SPR go to where the 'hauntings' take placea local lighthouse.  While the case isn't all that it seems, what will Naru do when the client has his sights set on Mai and doesn't seem like he's going to let her go free? Naru and Mai!
1. Chapter 1

Mai walked into the SPR office, expecting the oh-so-famous, 'Mai, Tea' remark but instead found her boss sitting on one of the couches. Opposite him was Lin, with his laptop at the ready and beside Lin was what Mai supposed to be a potential client. On the one-sitter chair, Masako Hara was looking wistfully at the one space left beside Naru and was obviously thinking of how to sit there without looking _too _desperate.

Naru looked up to acknowledge her presence and made a brief tilt of his head towards the kitchen, suggesting tea. Mai nodded and smiled slightly before making her way to the kitchen. She found the silence in the office tense and did not want to be the one to break it. In the kitchen, she prepared a variety of biscuits and buns on different plates and placed enough cups, spoons and saucers for everyone on to a tray. Once the water was boiled, she made one pot of coffee and one pot of green tea. To finish it, she placed small jugs of milk, cream and honey, so everyone could decide what they would like, and a small container of sugar.

While Mai was preparing the refreshments, she could hear Masako trying to strike up a conversation with Naru, completely ignoring the client and Lin. Naru answered politely but soon Masako was out of things to say. Mai rolled her eyes at the famous medium's attempts; she picked up the tray and opened the door to the main office with her foot. She walked over, placing the tray on the table and smiled reassuringly at the potential client. He smiled back with a thankful look on his face and suddenly the tension seemed to lift a little. Naru broke the silence by saying,

"Mai, sit."

Mai made a face, to try and make the man laugh and maybe relax a little more. She sat beside Naru, trying to ignore Masako glaring at her and smiled a little to her self when the client physically relaxed and his eyes were sparkling in amusement. The client held out his hand to Mai across the table and said,

"My name is Kobayashi Kaoru. (Surname comes first) It's nice to meet you."

Mai took Kobayashi-san's hand but instead of them shaking hands, he kissed her hand and held it in his hands. Neither noticed the silent growing rage of the black-clad teenager, who was thinking of ways to commit murder without getting caught. Masako and Lin did though. Lin smirked watching the fury dance in his colleague's eyes and Masako increased the glare directed at Mai. Mai, although surprised at the gesture, regained her composure and replied while trying to tug her hand out of his grasp,

"Nice to meet you, Kobayashi-san. My name's Taniyama Mai but please call me Mai."

Mai succeeded in getting her hand away and asked everyone what he or she would like to drink and to help themselves to the snacks. Once the tea was poured and everyone was settled with what they wanted, Mai looked at the appearance of the hand kissing man, as she started to call him, in front of her.

Kobayashi-san had slightly tanned skin and obviously worked out although he was slim. He looked as though he was around Naru's height but maybe an inch or two shorter. His eyes were pale blue with black specks dotting the surface and contrasted with his tanned skin. His hair was what Mai liked the most. It was light brown and curly and came down to the top of his ears. It was well groomed although a few strands went across his eyes and it suited him a lot. He was extremely good-looking but seemed to the opposite of Naru in terms of looks and his choice of clothes. He was wearing a red and white, stripy polo shirt with light blue, tight, boot cut jeans and white trainers. She was broken out of her thoughts by Kobayashi-san saying,

"This tea is great, Mai-chan."

Mai blushed from the unexpected praise, and smiled a little before replying meekly,

"Thank you."

Naru watched the exchange as the jealousy and anger kept building up inside of him. This man with a bird's nest for hair was flirting shamelessly with HIS Mai. This Kobayashi- san kissed HIS Mai's hand and the urge to grab Mai away from the infuriating man was almost over whelming. He wanted nothing more than keep Mai beside him at all times and tell any man, excluding John, Lin and Bou-san, looking for Mai where to put it.

John couldn't do anything to Mai because he pledged an oath to priesthood and it was obvious Bou-san looked at Mai as a little sister. Lin had a thing for Madoka, actually it was bordering on the line of obsession and he knew he wouldn't try anything.

Yasuhara was a different matter. Naru had no idea what his intentions were towards Mai and whenever they would smile and laugh together, Naru would imagine Yasuhara without a head and he was able to control the need to punch the boy's lights out. But, of course, Naru had no feelings towards Mai, other than boss to assistant feelings and the jealousy he felt whenever Mai was with other guys was normal for any boss, right?

He wanted Kobayashi-san out of the office as soon as possible so he could stop giving those little smiles to Mai. So he took a sip of tea, making it seem as though he was calm although his inner self was imagining different things to do with an electric saw, and said,

"Kobayashi-san, begin when you are ready."

Kobayashi-san nodded with a grim smile, and began why he wanted SPR to take his case. He flirted quite a lot with Mai while talking and when it came to the sad parts, he played upon Mai's sympathy. By the time he was finished, Naru was seeing red but his mind wasn't so clouded that he couldn't tell that this could be a very interesting case.

"We'll take it. Mai, ring up the others and ask for their assistance on this case. Tell them, if they are coming, to pack enough clothes for two weeks and to be here at 7 sharp tomorrow morning. Lin, take down Kobayashi-san's details."

A few minutes later, all of Kobayashi-san's details were stored on Lin's laptop and Mai said that everyone was able to come.

"Kobayashi-san."

"Yes, Shibuya-san?"

"We will need one room for a base and enough rooms to accommodate 3 women and 5 men. (Everyone including Yasuhara) We will share if need be."

"There should be enough room for everyone but the room I am thinking of that the women should share is too small for three people plus luggage. Mai-chan can share my bedroom."

Naru almost strangled the man in front of him but managed to say through gritted teeth,

"That won't be necessary. Mai can sleep in the base or share the room where the men are sleeping."

Hearing Kobayashi's startled gasp at the suggestion that Mai share a room with the men (which is worse? Sleeping in a room with Kobayashi or men you have come to trust your life with?), Mai added in,

"I don't mind, Kobayashi-san…"

Kobayashi saying interrupted her,

"Call me Kaoru, Mai-chan."

"Kaoru-san, I don't mind. I've shared a room with the men on previous cases, as well."

Inner Naru danced a little victory dance when Mai called Kobayashi, Kaoru with '–San' attached instead of '–Kun' or no honorific and smirked a little when Kobayashi's face flooded with disappointment. He watched Kobayashi and he knew he was up to something.

"Shibuya-san. There wouldn't be enough room for Mai-chan to share a room with 5 men and the base has drafts. She would catch a cold."

Naru stood up and made his way to his office while saying,

"Someone else can share your bedroom with you then."

Kobayashi's face fell again and he timidly said,

"Who?"

"That's what Lin is here for."

With that said, Naru went into his office, slamming the door behind him but couldn't resist peeking out to see Kobayashi's face. It was drained off all colour and he was looking at Lin in fear. Lin was glaring at Naru and he smirked although he knew he would pay for it later. Mai and Masako were trying to contain their laughter but were failing considerably, at least Mai was. Kobayashi stood shakily to his feet, knowing he was defeated and before going out said,

"I'll see you tomorrow but tell Shibuya-san, I think there should be enough room for all the women after all."


	2. Chapter 2: Idiot Scientist

(Mai's POV)

Mai rolled over as the beep of her alarm clock went off and wearily fumbled around for the off button of that stupid noise. Once she found it, she opened her eyes and saw faint sunlight filtering through her curtains. She stretched and yawned before falling off the bed because she was too close to the edge. Mai quickly made her bed and changed into a pair of black tracksuit trousers with a white stripe going down the outside of each leg and a white tank top. She took her MP3 player out of a bag that she used yesterday, clipped it onto the edge of her trousers and put the headphones in her ears. She looked at her clock on her bedroom wall and it read 2 minutes past 5 in the morning. Mai slipped her feet into a pair of white trainers and made her way out her apartment door, making sure she had her mobile and keys, and locking the door behind her. Mai soon set off into a jog, listening to her favourite music, around a nearby park. She did this every morning, unless she was on a case, and she did not fancy jogging along side a ghost that might just want to kill you. Jogging every morning helped keep her fit and she didn't get that slim by lazing in bed all day.

At a quarter to 6, Mai entered her small apartment and set about making her-self breakfast. At 5 to 6 she was in the shower and had set out what she was going to wear on her bed.

Once out, Mai bustled around her bedroom in a towel, setting out everything she wanted to bring with her on the "hand-kissing-man" case. She packed all her clothes, shoes and toiletries into a beige rucksack that had a red rose stitched on the front pocket. Mai then set out what school work she wanted to get done while on the case and managed to stuff all the books into a matching beige shoulder bag that had the red rose stitched on the left hand side. Her bags were not big but they weren't tiny and Mai was pleased by how much she managed to get in them.

By the time she had finished packing, it was 25 minutes past 6 and she needed to leave at least 15 minutes to get to SPR for 7 o'clock. Mai got changed into the clothes she had set out. She was wearing a soft, charcoal grey, pleated skirt, which came about a small rulers (15 cm) length above the knee, and a stripy, cotton polo shirt. The t-shirt's stripes had three main colours: turquoise, sea green and teal. Mai had over the knee, black socks on and had black dolly shoes with no strap on her feet. She sat down in front of her mirror and thought,

"No wonder Naru doesn't look at me twice".

Her hair was still very damp from her shower so she plugged in her hairdryer and began to brush her short, deep brown hair.

Mai didn't think of her-self as being beautiful, not even pretty, she just thought she looked either average or below. Ayako, the self-proclaimed miko, was always trying to boost her self-confidence, when they weren't teasing each other, because she was the only one within the SPR group, who knew of Mai's insecurities. Mai believed she would never be good enough for Naru, especially when he had someone as beautiful and talented as Masako interested in him, but she still couldn't help loving him.

Feeling brave, Mai decided to try something new with her hair before drying it. Using her brush, she made a side parting with her hair and swept her fringe to the left. To her surprise it actually looked good. After drying her hair, it looked even better, it made her face look more oval instead of round and she looked grown-up. To keep her fringe in place, Mai placed a small, sliver slide in her hair; she then applied some moisturiser to her face and put on some lip balm. After making sure she had everything she needed, she slipped on her shoes, locked the door and made her way to SPR, her bags in tow.

(Naru's POV)

After waking up, Naru packed his bags, acknowledged the 'grunt' Lin gave him as a good morning (Lin never was a morning person, not that Naru was any better), had a shower, got dressed in his usual black gear, ate some breakfast and made his way to SPR with Lin in tow. (Both of them still grunting)

Whilst in the shower, Naru thought of insults to aim at this _'Kaoru-kun'_ if he started hitting on Mai again or even started to suggest Mai should sleep with him again. Problem was that most of the insults he was thinking of ended with Naru punching the infuriating pretty-boy's lights out. Something which he did, Lin would certainly tell his parents and he did not want to be on the receiving end of his Mother shrieking down the phone about how he should just ask the girl out.

As if Naru would ask Mai out. He didn't have any romantic feelings towards Mai whatsoever. He just cared about her more than he would care about a friend and would protect her with his life. He just got possessive when he caught other guys looking at Mai and jealous when Mai was talking to a guy other than him. But _no, _he had no feelings for Mai at all.

Yes, Naru really is an idiot scientist.


	3. Chapter 3: Getting the plot somewhere

**The quick brown fox thoughts**

_**(The quick brown fox)inner self thoughts**_

For once, everyone arrived at the SPR office on time and once there, Naru began his usual orders for everyone to pack the van with equipment, minus himself of course- he had his little black notebook to read. After Mai had given everyone a beverage of their choice before they left, Naru looked at Mai's appearance.

'**So… what's the word?**

_**Pretty? Cute? **_

**Definitely cute! What the hell am I thinking? This is Mai, I'm thinking about!! **

_**Yeah, Mai… cute and innocent Mai-…**_

**Why the hell am I thinking about her in that way anyway? And shut up! Who are you anyway?**

I'm you of course… now back to Mai… 

**No!**

_** Gasp What if she dressed that way for bird-nest-hair-and-trying-to-steal-our-Mai man? **_

**Mai can't dress cutely unless it's for us!**

_Yes…Now go up to her and…_

**I am NOT thinking of myself as two people! **

Well, we only think of ourselves has two people when it comes to Mai so… 

**Stop talking like we are one person just because you are a voice in my head! **

Technically, it's OUR head…' 

Disturbed at his thoughts, Naru drowned the delicious cup of tea in one, ignoring his throat screaming at the burning sensation, and stood up abruptly. The other members of SPR looked at him bemused and he gave them all his glacier look, while stating, "Let's go"

The bemused looks turned to looks of anger and confusion and he walked to the door, putting on his long black coat and looking back to see the rest running around like headless chickens- well Lin was standing there finishing off his drink and Masako was fixing her make-up.

A few minutes later, everyone was standing before the assortment of vehicles. The men were putting luggage in the cars while Ayako ranted on at Bou-san for not handling her mountains of luggage with proper care and Masako and Mai stood together looking on in a companionable silence.

Mai looked at the famous, doll-like medium beside her and decided to try and 'extend the olive branch' so to say.

"Your kimono is very beautiful. It suits you"

Masako turned her head to look at the slightly taller (by 1 inch) girl beside her who was looking at her with a small, sheepish smile and kind, truthful eyes. Masako let her own small smile appear and smoothed down the soft pink with a daisy pattern material of her kimono, while replying,

"Thank you. Your hair is very nice today."

Both girls looked back at the others, feeling happy that even if it was only in a while, they showed they cared in their own ways. Naru telling everyone to get in the cars, so they could get going, shattered this. Before the words were even out of his lips, Masako had latched herself on to the black-clad teen's arm and was smirking smugly in Mai's direction. Mai blinked in surprise and had to bite down the cry of protest threatening to erupt from her mouth.

' **Masako blackmailed Naru before!! He couldn't possibly like her…(laughs nervously inside head) right? **

Mai was thrown out of her panic-stricken thoughts by Masako announcing she wanted to sit in where Mai usually sat in the SPR van, aka beside Naru. Mai, not wanting a scene, even if Masako did get to sit beside Naru, said while walking towards the others,

"No worries! Bou-san, you've got a seat free, ne?"

Spoken of Monk, pumped his fist in the air and said in a childish voice,

"Always for you, jou-chan! We can sing songs to annoy Ayako-oldie now!"

Mai, repressing the urge to grimace and look sympathetic for the man being plummeted to the ground by Ayako's handbag, suddenly felt arms encircling her tiny waist. Before she could even do anything, i.e. scream; Mai was plonked on the middle seat in the SPR van. Looking beside her in shock, to see Naru getting in after her, instructing Lin to drive with his usual composed mask in place.

'**Did Naru just do what I think he did?**

_**O My! He lifted you up! Rejoice, girl!**_

**Who on earth are you?'**

Mai was once again; flung out of her thoughts, realising she was still staring at Naru in shock for at least five minutes by Naru's sonorous and calm voice saying,

"Enjoying the view?"

Quickly grasping that her face was now red to the roots of her hair, Mai looked away from the infuriating man she had come to love and fiddled around her travel bag for the MP3 player and book she had brought to pass the time. As Mai was looking away, Naru allowed a brief smile to cross his lips at the blushing girl that managed to break down his defences.

Sorry, it was so short and hardly any plot line!! I'll update really soon so please read and review!!! Next chapter: tonnes and tonnes of fluff so you have been warned!!! ****


End file.
